Many boneless leg cuts of meat have been provided The advantage of boneless leg cuts of meats is that unnecessary weight is removed with respect to shipping and packing. More importantly, the boneless meat is easier to carve both when served in the home and in restaurant trade.
The disadvantage of a boneless leg cut of meat is that it almost never retains the general shape and appearance of the original leg cut of meat with the bone in. This is undesirable, particularly in those instances where the leg cut of meat after preparation and cooking is to be displayed at the time it is served, such as in a buffet line at a restaurant or hotel. This is of particular importance when leg of lamb is served. It is desirable to display it at the time of carving in a manner in which it has the appearance of a leg of lamb. However, with the bone in, the lamb is difficult to carve and there is much waste of meat. On the other hand, when the bone is removed, and the leg of lamb is wrapped, it takes on the approximate shape of a football. Thus, the meat product no longer has the distinctive appearance of a leg of lamb and therefore is less desirable even if it is easier to carve.
A prior art method for boning a ham and retaining its shape is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 511,927 to Brendon. This is accomplished by removing the femur and shank bones followed by coring out the tibia and thigh bone.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,419,424 to Staab discloses another method of boning a ham to retain its shape wherein two small lateral cuts are made at opposite ends of the thigh bone.
The following patents are all directed to apparatus for boning a ham. U.S. Pat. No. RE.27,873 to Weits et al. discloses a device for removing bones from shoulders and legs of beef and ham. The bones can be removed in sections. U.S. Pat. No. 1,435,877 to Reubold and U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,284 to Werner et al. each disclose a circular arrangement of knives which cut along the bones so that they can be removed. A somewhat similar device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,210,801 to Terranova. U.S. Pat. No. 2,857,619 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,051, both to Massengill disclose apparatus for pulling bones out of a ham.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,569 to Gagliardi, Jr. discloses a method of butchering a side of lamb and discloses the cuts obtained by this method. However, none of them disclose a leg of lamb in which the shank bone is retained and all other bones removed in a manner wherein the leg of lamb substantially retained its original shape and appearance.
Thus, while each reference discloses a method or apparatus which is suitable for its intended purpose, none of them are directed to removing all bones except the shank bone from a leg of lamb and presenting it in a manner in which it substantially retains its original shape and appearance.